UT Students Get Creative for Campus MovieFest

Published: February 20, 2009

In the early hours of last Wednesday morning, small groups of students
raced about The University of Tampa campus toting video cameras,
microphones and laptop computers. Each group hurried to record the final
few scenes of their individual films, a deadline looming the following
afternoon.

It was all a part of UT’s fourth annual Campus
MovieFest, an international student film festival in which student teams
are given five days to write and produce a short film using only one
camera, an Apple laptop and their own creative skills. The top 16 films
will be shown Wednesday, Feb. 25, at the Campus MovieFest Finale in
Vaughn Center Plaza.

“I think half the University was out late
trying to finish their movies,” said Austin Daniels, student co-chair of
Campus MovieFest at UT.

Daniels said that a total of 60 student
teams of five had signed up to participate in the competition, which is
facilitated by Student Government and Student Productions.

The
films range from lighthearted comedies, to dramas, to thrillers – many
of which are Hollywood-quality. Students from all majors and all class
levels participate, vying for a chance to win a variety of prizes.

Daniels,
a junior film and media arts major at UT who has spent entire semesters
making feature films, said he is always impressed at the final product
some students submit for the event.

“It’s amazing to see that
pretty much anybody can take a camera and tell a story within a week,”
Daniels said. “It’s just a show of what creative minds can do.”

A
panel of students as well as UT faculty and staff will view each
completed film on Monday, Feb. 23, to narrow the pool to the 16 top
films. Those films will then be shown at the Campus MovieFest Finale on
Feb. 25, at which prizes will be awarded in categories of “best
picture,” “best drama” and “best comedy.” Winning films move on to
compete in Campus MovieFest at regional and international competitions,
where the prizes are bigger and the attention greater.

“I really
support this event and our student involvement as they do it for the
sheer delight of making a film and not because they were assigned to in a
class,” said Tom Garrett, assistant professor of communication.

In
addition to Campus MovieFest, a series of events catered to UT’s
communication students is scheduled for the final week of February and
early March.

On Monday, Feb. 23, Hollywood producer and
director Gregg Hale will speak to students at 4 p.m. in UT’s Reeves
Theater. Hale’s credits include work of the acclaimed 1999 thriller “The
Blair Witch Project.”

Author and Hollywood actress Terry Moore
will be present at a “meet and greet” event with students at noon on
Feb. 27 in Plant Hall.

A series of film educational panels will
be held at UT as part of the Gasparilla Film Festival on Feb. 28 and
March 3, 4, and 5. The panelists will include filmmakers and producers
as well as representatives from local film commissions and others who
will discuss topics that address movie fundraising, cinematography,
production and acting.